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Creatures of the World
The World's Oceans Many enormous sea creatures make passage through large bodies of water hazardous. Most of them seem to mistake seafaring vessels for prey. *Kraken - Purportedly as large as a village, the kraken is a long, shelled, tentacled creature with a gaping maw. It is known to enwrap ships and crack them in half, or snatch people from the shore with its long tentacles, like fleshy bolts of lightning. *Makara - Not inherently hostile, the Makara nonetheless is highly destructive as it does not change its course for any reason. Ships and smaller animals are often crushed by its passage. The creature has a hulking forward body with a powerful snout from which it can produce powerful jets of water, numerous fins along its flanks, and a broad flat tail. While there is only believed to be one such creature, it is particularly dangerous in that it is larger than most islands. *Tanifha - Hardly massive, the tanifha are called "singing sharks" by Vathrians for their high-pitched rhythmic crooning. They swim in pods. When they surface, they croon, producing a volume and rhythm that will render verbal communication entirely impossible and some humanoids insensate. Those that fall into the water are eaten. *Umiboshh - The umibossh has no consistent physical description, save that it is a tall creature, much like a building, that sometimes emerges from the ocean at night. It is capable of some degree of halting speech and frequently speaks one or two languages. It seems to not eat people, but instead hurl them into the water to drown. *Hydra - Amphibious, multi-headed reptiles. The hydra develops between five and twelve heads (or possibly more), supposedly as a factor of its age. They seem to be solitary, animalistic predators. *Yaku-mama - A serpent dwelling in particular environments, such as lagoons. Nearly a mile in length, the yaku-mama swallows its prey whole and then rests below the water for days, or perhaps weeks. There are many stories of sailors' ships being ingested such and one or two of the crew or passengers escaping from the beast's mouth while it sleeps. *Tlanusi - A leechlike creature, as large as most giants. Tlanusi will affix themselves to surfaces passing through their waters, slowly digesting whatever that may be. Creatures Common to the World Between the Seas *Yaux - An enormous, woolly cloven-hoofed mammal, let to roam large distances but often tended to by yauxherds within the Vath Imperium or the Haarn. Herds of yaux tend toward aggressive behaviour and do not suffer being milked, but when safely butchered provide huge quantities of meat for their communities. Yaux are willful, but do make excellent beasts of burden as they are frequently ignorant of yokes placed upon their massive necks and are more easily driven than led. Yaux horns will, unless trimmed, grow to be the entire length of the yaux's trunk before the weight becomes too much for the yaux to bear. *Camelops - Commonplace in the Tal Bha region, but with shaggier cousins found in Alalku, the camelops is notoriously a "rude" animal, but its indifference goes with a famed ability to be tamed and ridden as a mount. In Alalku, the woolly camelops is shorn for its hair. *Brontoth - An aggressive animal with a thick grey hide and Y-shaped horn on its nose, the brontoth is usually afforded a wide berth when encountered in the wild. It shies away from herds or groups of most animals, but responds with quick and powerful violence when neared - especially when a brontoth is encountered with calves. *Therioth - Enormous, slow-moving claw-fisted herbivores. Therioths bear their young on their backs, as a cape of children of sorts, and trudge through forested regions of Choka, Ubu, Bel Moro and the Haarn. Therioths are not hostile unless provoked, and seem to be quite simpleminded. When provoked, they are prone to sudden bursts of speed and profoundly strong. Creatures of Vath *Krayloa - A stout-bodied, strong-legged bipedal reptile, usually bright in colour with a quilled or feathered crest and long tail. Krayloa are native to Choka, but have seen proliferation throughout Vath and serve as the primary cavalry mount for its military, partially for their speed and mobility and partially for their easy ferocity in open warfare. Krayloa saddles sit just before their hips, leading to a rapid rocking motion known to cause motion sickness in many. *Mishipeshu - Found in Lindl, the mishipeshu is a glistening black "water panther". The mishipeshu nests in metal ores, and as such has developed a reputation as a covetous creature - though, considering the ore becomes infused into its skeleton and horns, perhaps not an unfair one. An adult mishipeshu stands slightly taller at the shoulder than a human, and features an elongated, strong neck, and a long, powerful tail. They have been observed coursing with electricity, and as such are thought to be related to the various creatures native to the Storm. Creatures of the Storm *Thunderworm, Lesser - A snakelike creature, roughly as long as a human is tall. Lesser thunderworms lurk in the waters of the Storm in large groups - called "snake soup" by rangers and adventurers - and stun unwary people and animals, dragging them in for the swarm to devour. Lesser thunderworms are sought after by alchemists and wicce for their electricity-producing organs. *Thunderworm, Greater - Rarely encountered and survived. Greater thunderworms are supposedly as long as a caravan train and capable of devouring yaux whole. Considered one of the most noteworthy threats for those attempting to venture into the Storm, especially considering their supposed ability to move through the earth. Desperately coveted by alchemists and wicce for their theoretically massive electricity-producing organs. *Storm-Spider - Strange, glassy creatures lurking in the sodden remains of the Storm's ancient trees and in the pitted crags that were once its mountains. Storm-Spiders are capable of walking upon water by hardening its surface as they step and spin an electrical thread that can be shot very long distances. *Mistwraith - Creatures seemingly made of rain and fog, mistwraiths cast a huge batlike shadow barely-visible in the rainy twilight of the Storm. They strike swiftly, snatching up their prey and carrying it away. When defended against, they respond by shedding a bank of fog and redoubling their efforts. Mistwraiths only surrender on the very verge of death. Their corpses have revealed them to be transparent ray-like creatures with massive flapping wings and an enormous bladder reserved for water that the are able to refrigerate and mist in large volumes. Category:Bestiary